A Lily In The Ashes
by Ed Westwicker
Summary: A little glimpse into the Potter family after the war. Not everything is as it seems. Written for the "Sibling Challenge".


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. That's J.K. Rowling's...**

**XoXo**

"_When you start your life,_

_a coin is flipped._

_Heads, your life is where dreams do come true_

_Tales, your life spirals out of control._

_I was tales."_

"Lily?" my brother called, looking for me as we played hide and seek. "Where are you? Mum and Dad want us out of the house and out of earshot no doubt."

I popped out of my hiding spot, my red hair glittering in the sunlight and a confused expression on my face. "What do you mean out of earshot?" I asked James, watching as his face relaxed and a smile graced his lips.

"There you are!" he said brightly, grabbing my hand and leading me outside to where Al was sitting. "Come on. We'll play a round of Exploding Snap."

I shook my head furiously, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at my older brothers. "I want to know what you meant by out of earshot!" I said heatedly, reminding myself of Mum during one of her tirades. "I am not playing anything with you two until you tell me!"

"Maybe when you're older Lil'," Albus said tiredly, pushing his glasses farther up his nose and diving into his book. I rolled my eyes and cocked my hip, watching as James sighed heavily and Albus paid me no attention.

"Can we just tell her?" James asked, looking down at Albus. Al scoffed and turned a page. "Give me one good reason why we shouldn't!"

"Because she's too young and if we tell her she'll probably run and tell Mum and Dad what we said about them," Albus said matter-of-factly, peering over his glasses at James. James rolled his eyes but didn't say a word back. Apparently Al had come up with a pretty good reason if James was silent.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked impatiently, sitting down on the ground heavily.

"Nothing," Albus said gruffly, going back to his book. "Just forget about it Lily." I rolled my eyes but did what he told me to.

"James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna! Show yourselves or you're all grounded for the next month!" Mum growled, sounding furious at us all.

"Are you sure we were all supposed to be outside?" I whispered to James as his eyes widened. He nodded slowly and stood up. "Then why is she mad?"

"Who knows? Why is she ever mad?" James asked quietly, walking out into the open. "Mum! We're over here!"

"Oh, thanks goodness!" Mum said excitedly, wrapping her arms around his tall body. "I was so worried! When I said go outside I didn't mean in the woods!"

"We weren't in the woods!" I piped up, walking over to where she was standing. Her face collapsed into a look of pure anger when she saw me. "We were just sitting right there!"

"And you dragged your sister out here? James. You're seventeen! Use your head a little!" Mum screeched, throwing her arms in the air and shaking her head. I bit my lip and slid my eyes from James to my mother and back again. "I'm bringing this up with your father! You're reckless, you don't care about anyone else and half the time you're so thick you don't even listen to what I'm telling you!"

"Mum I-" James started, his brown eyes wide and frantic. He never got to finish what he was going to say though because Mum's hand snapped forward and slapped his cheek with a loud crack.

"Mum!" I screamed, disbelief creeping into my voice. She looked back at me, her brown eyes narrowed and angry. "What are you doing?"

"Never mind, Lily," James said in a n uncharacteristically clipped tone. He held his hand out, offering it to me with the sense that it was an anchor to something normal. "Come on. We should probably go inside like Mum wants us to."

I nodded solemnly, not trusting myself to say anything. James was silent the entire walk to the house and that's when I knew something was wrong. He was never silent. I looked up at him, my own eyes widening when I saw the hard, angry set of his jaw. He was upset, but just like the rest of us, he wouldn't say a single word. I bit my lip again, wondering what had set Mum off like that.

"Lily?" James asked in a tight voice. I turned around, surprised at how normal his face was when I looked at it. "Promise me you won't say anything about what happened back there."

"Why not? Dad should know," I answered, my eyebrows contracting in confusion.

"No!" I was surprised at how fiercely he answered. "Dad can't know. It will only make things worse."

"What things?" I knew I was whining now, but I didn't care. I deserved to know. James stayed silent and the only way I knew he heard me was the way his hand tightened against mine. "I deserve to know just as much as you do," I muttered under my breath.

But James still didn't say a thing. He normally hissed at me if I got too incompetent. Maybe I really didn't want to know, but I hated it when Albus and James kept things from me. _Especially_ when it was about Mum and Dad. I knew they had their problems, but didn't everyone? They just needed to work things out and then they would be right back on track again. Right?


End file.
